


Something Strange

by Vagrant_Blvrd



Series: Kings of Nowhere [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Gen, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-18 00:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12376926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vagrant_Blvrd/pseuds/Vagrant_Blvrd
Summary: They meet on a dark and stormy night, and things just kind of go from there.





	Something Strange

**Author's Note:**

> For Miss-Ingno who wanted something spooky with vampire!Ryan and utterly unimpressed Gavin, and gets this instead. (Sorry??? ;D)

Gavin's meant to be meeting with Michael and the others at a little dive bar they've found. His flight back to the states was late getting in and by the time he'd found the motel they were staying at for the night, they'd wandered into the city to have a few drinks before turning in.

And because Gavin arrived later than expected, the others had had a bit of time to get a head start on their drinking. As a result the directions Michael texted him are incomprehensible. Followup texts to him for clarification have only gotten worse. Jeremy and Jack are no better, and Geoff's simply not answering his phone, which means he most likely has his hands full keeping the others out of trouble.

“For the love of God,” Gavin mutters, ducking under a tattered awning for a moment, little enough shelter against the storm that sprung up half an hour ago, but it's better than nothing. 

Wiping rainwater off his phone, Gavin squints at the original text from Michael and tries to make sense of it once more. Hoping the jumble of letters and numbers and occasional special character will suddenly reform in recognizable words, with no luck. There are any number of dive bars dotted along this street, little glittering spots of light tucked around pockets of darkness and the entire area is just. _Odd._

Eerie under the heavy rain and driving wind of the storm, flashes of lightning and booming cracks of lightning. 

Annoyed, he shoves his pone in a pocket and looks around for any landmarks that resemble the ones Michael described in his text. ...Or look like they could resemble them, to a certain drunk idiot from Jersey who's also blind as a bat... 

Gavin's about to give it up as a bad job, call a taxi to take him back to the motel when there's movement at the corner of his eye. 

When he turns to look at it, he catches a glint of metal in the hand of a stranger strolling towards him. Thinks, _not ideal_ , when the stranger smirks, eyes flicking up and down the deserted street before landing back on him.

“Hey pal,” the man says, voice nasally and grating as he looks Gavin up and down. “I like your jacket.”

Gavin takes a small step back, and the man follows.

“You give me that, and whatever else you got, I don't use this. Sound like a good deal?”

Gavin opens his mouth to answer – absolutely no idea what's about to come out – when some _thing_ slides out of the shadows and tosses the mugger against the wall of a building.

He sees a flash of red, hears a low growl, something inhuman to it, and then the mugger's flailing. Striking out against whatever grabbed him, strangled yell escaping him before he goes abruptly, disturbingly, quiet and still.

Gavin's heart is trying to beat its way out of chest, hands fumbling for his phone. What pocket did he put it in, _where the bloody hell is it -_

“You should run,” the shadowy figure says, darkly amused. He tips his head, light from nearby lamppost falling on his face. The bloody smirk he's giving Gavin and the sharp, sharp fangs he has as he shakes the would-be mugger for emphasis. “I'm feeling a bit...peckish.”

A flash of lightning streaks across the sky chased by a crash of thunder, and honestly, the timing is just ridiculous, isn't it?

And then what the shadowy figure said actually registers, Gavin's mind processing the words. Gavin frowns, tipping his head to the side as he mouths 'peckish' to himself.

Looks up at the shadowy figure, who doesn't look nearly as intimidating as he seems to think he does, now that Gavin can see him better. Nice looking face sure, fine. Lovely features and all that, and deep voice that seems like it's made for the kind of dramatics the man obviously has a penchant for.

_Still._

“'Peckish'?” Gavin asks before he can think better of it. “Really?”

The man blinks, caught off-guard by the sheer incredulousness in Gavin's voice.

“What's wrong with 'peckish'?” he demands, annoyance slipping into his voice, further dispelling the dark aura he's wrapped himself in. “It's a perfectly good word!”

Gavin rolls his eyes. “Of course it is.”

He can see the man gearing up for a retort, but the mugger chooses that moment to groan weakly, head lolling to the side.

There are two neat puncture marks on the side of his neck, small beads of blood welling up that serve to remind Gavin that this is hardly a typical way for people to meet. That this is, in fact, something very much out of a horror movie, complete with undead creature of the night, no matter how melodramatic he is.

“You're, ah,” Gavin says, suddenly realizing that he's holding a man half again Gavin's size with no visible strain, that he was clearly _drinking his blood_ mere minutes ago. And frowns when the mugger groans again, one hand coming up to bat ineffectually at his captor. “He doesn't look well.”

The man glances down at the mugger for a moment, head cocked like he's listening to something, and then he looks up at Gavin.

“No,” he says mildly, clearly toying with Gavin now, waiting to see what he'll do next. 

And Gavin - 

There are so many things he could, _should_ , do here, but - 

“Well, then,” he says, and finally manages to find his phone tucked away safely in one pocket of his jacket where he'd put it earlier before the mugger approached him. 

The man shifts, something impatient in it. Almost annoyed, when Gavin taps in the cab company's number on his phone. Only one he knows in this city that isn't the motel's front desk the others booked for the night.

“What are you doing?” 

Gavin looks at him, sees the frown on his face, and says, “Calling a cab?”

“...What?”

And Gavin – he sighs, because clearly this man is a bit... _slow_. 

“Well, you haven't killed him yet, and I doubt you're going to _now_ ,” Gavin says, since the man's had ample time to finish the mugger off and hasn't. Who hasn't made a genuinely threatening move towards Gavin. “I wouldn't begin to know what number to call for the police here since – and this may surprise you to learn – I'm not from around here, and we can't just leave him here.”

Gavin gets a raised eyebrow at that and, “He tried to mug you,” the man points out, holding up the mugger's knife as though Gavin somehow missed that part of the evening.

“And then you went for his throat,” Gavin says, all too aware of the position he's in here. Alone in an alley with an unconscious mugger, a man who is clearly not human, and yet unable to stop the words tripping off his tongue. “So I think that makes things even, yeah?”

The man - _vampire_ \- gives Gavin a pained look, as though he cannot fathom the depths of his stupidity, which. Quite rude, actually.

“No,” he says, utterly bewildered. “Not even a little bit.”

========

Gavin would like to say he's surprised when the cab driver who pulls up some time later doesn't bat an eye when they shove the mugger into the back of his cab but he's not, really. 

The man has a look about him as though he's seen everything the world has to throw at him and nothing could possibly surprise him again. He mumbles out a number when Gavin asks what it will cost to take the mugger to the nearest police station. Hands over a notepad with out a single word when Gavin pats himself down for so much as a scrap of paper to write a note to the police. 

“Is that normal for this city?” Gavin asks, because it would explain so much about the reason Geoff and the others are here. Why Gavin flew directly here after sorting out some personal business of his own.

The vampire shrugs, seeming a bit unsettled by the cab driver's lack of reaction to a very suspect series of events and even more suspicious people.

“Eh,” he says with a shrug, giving Gavin a _it is what it is_ sort of look. “It's not _not_ unusual, if that's what you're asking.”

Gavin squints up at the vampire, who has seemed to realize his creature of the night act was having zero effect on Gavin, and is coming across as more of a socially awkward person who has no idea what the protocol for this kind of situation is.

“Yes, well - “ Gavin starts to say, just as a door slams open a block down and he hears the oh, so familiar sound of Geoff yelling at Michael and Jeremy.

It's a very, very distinct sound. Easily made out even over the soft patter of the rain still falling after the brunt of the storm.

“Someone you know?” The vampire asks, amused at Geoff's tirade. The sound of the others laughing at him, which just makes Geoff more annoyed at them, and so on and so on in a neverending cycle.

Gavin sighs, annoyed that he was this close to those idiots the whole time, and turns to the vampire to thank him for the unexpected rescue - 

“Oh, come _on_ ,” Gavin mutters, glaring at the spot where the vampire was just standing before looking around although he knows the prick is long gone.

========

The drive out to the creaky, ghost-ridden bed and breakfast a town over is a bit of an adventure.

Michael, Jeremy, and Jack are all hungover and Geoff is taking a vindictive sort of satisfaction at the way they flinch and make little pained noises at every slammed door or sharp turn. The way he talks just a bit louder than strictly necessary as he runs over the place's history. 

Built as a mutil-story hotel at the turn of the century, located at the edge of a lake high up in the mountains at the end of a winding road that's a bit tricky to navigate in the winter months. Various unexplained deaths and people going missing on its grounds over the years, something, something, something. Odd sightings and goings on and the like until it was closed down decades ago. New owners coming along a few decades back who turned it into a quaint little bed and breakfast.

Things being quiet for a bit, until the sightings and a few other unexplained phenomena took place around five years ago. The current owner reaching out to them to quell concerns their regular guests had stared to voice, nervous and uneasy about the rumors whispered about the place. Nervous and uneasy, and so they've been hired to spend at least a week here to do some investigating, hope to do some filming while they're at it. Maybe even get a bit of a series going on, if things work out.

“Christ, Geoff, you're killing us. Could you like, shut the fuck up for five minutes maybe?”

Geoff smirks at Michael in the van's rearview mirror, and turns to Gavin, speaking even louder this time.

========

The man who greets them at the bed and breakfast's front desk is a quiet-spoken, polite, and obviously bored out of his mind.

“Oh, man, is that the newest Pokemon game?” Jeremy asks, leaning over the counter to get a look at the poor man's 3DS. 

Jack sighs, grabbing Jeremy by the back of the collar and pulling him back as Geoff steps forward, all friendly charm and easy-going smile as he handles the introductions.

The guy - “Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you, I guess?” - gives them a brief tour of the premises, complete with muttered comments about the people who died in various rooms.

“That's fucking creepy, dude,” Geoff says, eyeing him with concern because Matt seems a little too into the story-telling aspect of it. “Like. Seriously.”

“Eh, we get people who come out here just for a chance to see the ghosts, you know? Boss said to put some theatrics into it to sell it.”

Michael clears his throat, glancing at them before he leans forward and puts a hand on Matt's shoulder. “Still fucked up, dude.”

Matt shrugs, unbothered, and leads them back down to the first floor. “Boss will be here a little after sundown, but he said it'd be okay for you to set up before then if you want.”

That's...an odd way of phrasing things - telling time - isn't it? But this _is_ a small American town, and the others don't seem phased by it so Gavin doesn't comment on it.

“C'mon, asshole,” Michael says, catching his eye. “Might as well get your shit out of the van while it's still light out.”

========

Gavin's setting up one of their cameras with Jeremy helping when he hears a voice filtering up to them from the first floor through the vents.

A very familiar voice, although there's some kind of accent to go along with it this time. Something that's vaguely familiar from the traveling they've done to the southern half of the states investigating hauntings and other supernatural phenomena for their internet audience.

“Gav?”

“I forgot something in the lobby, I'll be right back!” Gavin calls behind him, following the voice downstairs where he sees that familiar face having a pleasant chat with Geoff over coffee. 

The vampire from the night before, looking the average harmless bed and breakfast owner. Charming smile and a soft southern accent that no doubt works a charm on most people.

Geoff, however, is not most people. (None of them are, when it comes down to it.) 

He is, in fact, watching the vampire with sharp eyes despite the easy smile on his face. Trading anecdotes with the vampire but very much away something is very subtly off about him. 

Despite the precariousness of their position here at a secluded location known for people mysteriously going missing never to be seen again, for unexplained deaths and other alarming incidents, Gavin doesn't think they're in danger. (But there's a large part of him that's so very grateful Geoff's as wary, suspicious, as he is because there have been incidents in the past.)

The vampire looks up when Gavin steps into the room, Geoff turning to see what's caught his attention.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Gavin says, making a grab for a random bit of equipment on one of the side tables in the lobby as pretense. “Forgot to bring this with me.”

He's about to duck out, make his way back to Jeremy with some excise or other, but Geoff calls him back. Gestures at the vampire who's watching him, little uptick to the corner of his mouth when Gavin looks at him. 

Smug. Annoyingly so, really.

“This is Ryan, he owns the place,” Geoff says, look on his face like he doesn't quite know what to make of 'Ryan', but is leaning towards _tolerable asshole_ , which is high praise indeed coming from Geoff. “He mentioned some of the sightings have been up in the attic.”

Because of course they have. 

Regular hot spot for supernatural activity, attics.

“We haven't had a chance to go up there yet,” Gavin says. Matt had warned them it was off limits until Ryan arrived to oversee things up there.“But we can get things together to film in a bit, if you'd like?”

There's a bit of a pause, Ryan tipping his head to the side as though he's considering it. Mouth pulling into a smile when Geoff clears his throat, a wee bit annoyed at the man's unnecessary theatrics, which, _ha_.

“I think that can be arranged, yes,” Ryan says. “I just need to have a word with Matt first.”

========

The bed and breakfast's attic is, well.

Damn creepy, to put it bluntly. 

No matter how many lights they set up, it doesn't seem to push the darkness back completely. Little pools and spots of the stuff here and there in defiance of any known science or logic, and Gavin's starting to think there may well be some truth to some of the reported ghost sightings here. That it isn't all Ryan and his sense of drama, feeding on people's fears and superstitions to appeal to thrill-seekers and amateur ghost-hunters. Add a bit of mystery to the place, let people think what they will about this tired little bed and breakfast hidden away in the mountains. (Star-crossed romances that ended in tragedy, ghosts forever walking the earth in search of their loved one, is an ever popular one for places like this. Bitter betryal and broken hearts that turn to bitter regret for hasty actions that can never be taken back are a close second.)

“Ah, yes. That will be a bit of a problem.”

Gavin starts at Ryan's voice behind him, somehow still surprised at it even though he's been expecting something like this all night.

“The ghosts are real, then?” Gavin asks, turning around to see Ryan poking curiously at one of their light setups. 

A mishmash of tech, duct-taped together after an incident at the last site they'd investigated. A combination of bad luck and poor construction, and honestly they were lucky to make it out of there with that being the worst of the damage.

“Interesting.”

Gavin rolls his eyes, reaching out to swat his hand away.

“You didn't answer the question,” he says, putting his phone away.

Ryan rolls a shoulder in a graceful shrug, at ease here the way he hasn't seemed to be anywhere else in the building from what Gavin's seen of him. Like this, unexplainable darkness and whatever's causing that uncomfortable crawling sensation along Gavin's skin is where he's meant to be, not the warm kitchen of a cozy little kitchen.

“Depends on what your concept of a ghost is,” he says, and laughs at the look Gavin gives him for that bit of bull. “But yes, a few of them are real.”

Gavin hums, wondering if Ryan will ever actually tell them which ones those might be, and where they tend to be found. 

“You're an interesting one,” Ryan says, something like confusion in his voice as he looks at Gavin. “Most people would have been a bit...alarmed last night.”

Gain feels his eyebrows go up, incredulousness reaching new heights as he waves a hand around them at the lights and various cameras. Odd little meters and gadgets that have come into Geoff's possession over the years. The ones Michael and the others helped build when they came on board.

“Ah,” Ryan says, and if he was human, Gavin swears there'd be a blush warming his cheeks. As it is, he's studying his feet with odd sort of intent. “True.”

Gavin snorts, leaning against the wall facing Ryan. Feels a bit of his own smugness when the man looks up at him after a moment. Curious, slightly apprehensive.

“You realize,” Gavin says, “that we're going to be here longer than a week when we catch some of those ghosts on film, don't you?”

Geoff and the others will want to turn the place upside down hoping to uncover it's mysteries and secrets. Gavin knows for a fact that they'll realize something's odd about Ryan aside from his questionable fashion choices. (Not that Jeremy would notice that bit, the color-blind bastard.)

Ryan gets a look on his face that says he obviously hadn't. Had probably expected them to be like the other hokey, so-called paranormal hunters on the internet. People who felt a bit of editing magic was enough to satisfy their audience. Who didn't know the first thing about how to go about investigating a haunting or anything else they'd happen to stumble upon.

And, oh, this is lovely, isn't it. Seeing realization hit that Ryan may have gotten in over his head with them. Didn't expect them to know what they're doing, to know what to do with a real ghost or anything else if they happened across one, but they do. 

They really do.

It feels like a bit of payback for Ryan's annoying, exasperating smugness that's been present all evening as he watched them at work. Clearly someone who hadn't done his homework in regards to them, didn't know the places they'd been before this.

_Still._

“I didn't get a chance to say it last night, since you decided to borrow a page from Batman and all, but thank you for stopping that mugger,” Gavin says, honest and sincere. Very much aware of how that could have ended if Ryan hadn't intervened for whatever reason.

Ryan looks surprised at that. Like he hadn't expected Gavin to bring the matter up, to thank him, and Gavin sighs. Shakes his head as he starts to climb down, and pauses with his head just above the trapdoor opening.

Feels sheer amusement at the wary look Ryan's giving him, and flashes a cheeky grin at him. "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days!"

He drops out of sight and goes on his merry way because there's ever so much work to do, after all.


End file.
